Conclusive Identification Via Noisy Classical Channel: Superactivation and Quantum Advantage

Abstract

We introduce conclusive identification task for classical channels: a receiver identifies transmitted inputs without error when possible, and responds inconclusively when outputs are ambiguous. For a symmetric not-fully-corrupted channel $N : X \to X$, the single-shot conclusive identification index $\mathrm{ci}_\circ(N)$ counts the maximum number of conclusively identifiable inputs. We show $\mathrm{ci}_\circ(N)$ exhibits a striking superactivation phenomenon: a channel with $\mathrm{ci}_\circ(N) = 0$ achieves $\mathrm{ci}_\circ(N \otimes \mathrm{id}^c_\beta) = |X|$ when assisted by a perfect classical channel of dimension $\beta < |X|$. The minimum classical assistance required equals the chromatic number $\chi(\mathtt{S}_N)$ of the channel's support graph $\mathtt{S}_N$. We provide channel families where the superactivation gap $\mathrm{ci}_\circ(N \otimes \mathrm{id}^c_\beta) - \mathrm{ci}_\circ(\mathrm{id}^c_\beta)$ can be made arbitrarily large. A noiseless quantum channel of dimension equal to the orthogonal rank $\xi(\mathtt{S}_N)$ suffices, yielding a strict quantum advantage whenever $\xi(\mathtt{S}_N) < \chi(\mathtt{S}_N)$. This advantage is demonstrated through three explicit constructions motivated by combinatorial and algebraic state-independent, and state-dependent proofs of Kochen-Specker contextuality. Via the co-normal product of graphs, we analyze the scaling of the quantum advantage ratio $\chi_f(\mathtt{S}_N)/\xi(\mathtt{S}_N)$, and present a channel for which quantum assistance is exponentially more efficient than classical. Our results establish $\mathtt{S}_N$, rather than the confusability graph $\mathtt{G}_N$, as the natural combinatorial object for conclusive identification, revealing that channels deemed useless under Shannon's zero-error framework can exhibit rich superactivation and quantum advantage, with deep connections to quantum contextuality.